Bio

I'm a composer and vibraphonist based in Brescia, Italy.

I began my studies with Maestro Alberto Pezzagno at the "Isidoro Capitanio" Philharmonic Association in Brescia. I completed my degree in classical percussion in 2012 at the "Evaristo Felice dall'Abaco" Conservatory in Verona, in the class of Saverio Tasca, and went on to a master's degree in jazz at the "Francesco Antonio Bonporti" Conservatory in Trento, graduating in 2019 under Paolo Silvestri, with a thesis on arrangements of Milt Jackson. Alongside my musical studies I took a degree in philosophy at the University of Padua.

In 2012 I won the Arena Foundation's competition for young soloists and performed as marimba soloist with the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona. In 2017 I received a scholarship from the Nuoro Jazz summer seminars to play at the KM.251 Jazz Festival in Ponferrada, Spain.

I have worked with or for Peppe Servillo, Geoff Westley, Fulvio Sigurtà, Peo Alfonsi, Simona Severini, Guido Bombardieri, Mohcine Ramdan, Amine Mesnaoui, Arnaud N'Gaza, Lisa Oduor-Noah, Brian Sigu, Ayrosh, Noel Nderitu, Rusty Brass, Rondò Veneziano, the Italian Philharmonic Orchestra, ParadICE Music — playing, building and tuning Tim Linhart's ice instruments at over two thousand metres — and Mátti Kovler, among others. I have performed in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Croatia, Albania, Russia and Kenya.

I have recorded for Naxos, Stradivarius, Squilibri, Ritmo&Blu, EMME, Sonitus and Osmio Project. I have composed for productions by Fondazione AIDA, BAM!BAM! Teatro, deSidera, Teatro San Marco, Teatro PAN Lugano and Teatro delle Quisquillie, for the "Isidoro Capitanio" Philharmonic Association, for IzMo Big Band and for Rusty Brass, and for the feature documentary Cent'anni di vita and for a number of short films. Works have been written for me by Giancarlo Facchinetti, Giovanni Mancuso, Rossano Pinelli, Tommaso Ziliani, Saverio Tasca, Riccardo Barba, Claudio Mandonico and Alessandro Ruocco.

In 2013, after more than twenty thousand kilometres of hitchhiking through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, I reached Ulaanbaatar. Out of that journey — and out of the need to give coherent form to the experience of the unpredictable — came Di Passaggio.

I have been an artist in residence at Ebenböckhaus in Munich and, on the AIR programme of MIDJ, SIAE and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at the Italian Cultural Institute in Nairobi, with concerts and workshops during the Week of the Italian Language in the World and an official presentation at the Kenya National Theatre.

I am co-founder of FluffyAudio, a company producing professional sample libraries.

Press

"Chittò has already given an example of his prowess, also compositional, in the evening organised by the Italian Institute of Culture at the Kenya National Theatre last Thursday as part of the Settimana della lingua italiana nel mondo. This evening he will have more freedom and at the same time will act together with a well-rehearsed quintet, with trumpeter Mackinlay Mutsembi conducting and many possible surprises, as is the custom at Gecko, the Lavington venue where 'live' performances are at home practically every night. With Olmo and his vibraphone, room for improvisation and talent."
Malindikenya.net, 2024
"Hugely entertaining was Olmo Chittò's own «Gioco di carte», entrusted to a «controlled randomness» generated by the indications of highly unusual musical cards, while Rossano Pinelli's vibraphone-and-double-bass duo «Arqaba» rang out combinations of sound reminiscent of bells. Giovanni Mancuso's «Olmo in Khasgar» evoked the boundless vastness of the desert, and finally Riccardo Barba's «Mongol Uls» closed the journey, citing musical themes and landscapes of Mongolia. The three instrumentalists were EXCELLENT, and very witty too, cheerfully commenting on the original programme in front of an enormous audience that had packed the hall at Cascina Parco Gallo. The evening's «hero», of course, was Olmo Chittò, who by the end was kept very busy signing the CD and the score, «Di passaggio», released by Sonitus."
Bresciaoggi, 2020
"Olmo Chittò plays the piece with great composure and masterful command of the instrument, undaunted by the score's demanding intrusions, marking out the bars with fine precision and excellent choices of tempo. The audience present immediately gives him warm applause [...]"
L'Arena, 2012

Prize

Verona Bridge Film Festival, 2022 — critics' and audience awards for Cent'anni di vita
Barga Jazz, 2022 — finalist with the Serenismar Quintet
Premio Accademia Filarmonica di Verona, 2012 — third prize
Arena Foundation, competition for young soloists, 2012 — winner

Recognition

National A.I.R. call, 2024 — MIDJ, SIAE and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Winner of the artist residency in Nairobi.
RAI Radio 3, Piazza Verdi — on Di Passaggio
Nuoro Jazz scholarship, 2017 — KM.251 Jazz Festival, Ponferrada

Press kit

EPK Drive

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